I'm not sure JASSM had anything to do with the SEAD mission that is favored by USN for JSOW.

I was suggesting that JASSM is the reason that the AF stopped procuring JSOW.

The Navy's decision to skip JASSM/JASSM-ER defies reason.

....why focus USN development on JASSM when they are completing LRASM (JASSM+) for the SBug....the USAF is bringing JASSM to the F-35A/B/C, so both the planes being replaced (F-16/18) now have JASSM.....will one size fit all, with UAI??

neptune wrote:[....why focus USN development on JASSM when they are completing LRASM (JASSM+) for the SBug....the USAF is bringing JASSM to the F-35A/B/C, so both the planes being replaced (F-16/18) now have JASSM.....will one size fit all, with UAI??

JASSM-ER is ~ $1.2M/unit. LRASM is about $3M/unit.

On an unrelated (to JASSM) matter:

Not sure where to put this but it looks like JPO is consideringmoving up the inclusion of Auto-GCAS. Block 4.1?

The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program expects to meet with Pentagon leadership in early December for approval of a new plan that will allow it to continuously develop software capabilities following completion of the post-system development and demonstration phase.

F-35 Program Executive Officer Vice Adm. Mat Winter told reporters in September he expected that approval to come in October.

Air Force Brig. Gen. Eric Fick, F-35 program deputy, told Inside Defense Nov. 15 that while the program expects approval for its new post-SDD strategy, the upcoming Defense Acquisition Board meeting is not solely focused on Block 4 follow-on modernization. It is part of the program's annual update with Pentagon acquisition executive Ellen Lord.

"It's giving her that look across the entire program, laying out the process that we intend to follow as we march forward in modernizing," he said.

The JPO will present a cost estimate for Block 4 during the DAB meeting, but an updated figure is being finalized as part of the fiscal year 2019 budget process, Fick said.

Inside Defense first reported in September the joint program office was adapting its strategy for post-SDD and follow-on modernization, a move that could change the way it develops and delivers new software capabilities. The new strategy would establish a bridge period between delivery of the final version of Block 3F software the program plans to release during development and the start of Block 4 follow-on modernization.

The program expects to deliver all Block 3F capabilities in "early 2018," Fick said. However, the software will have a number of known deficiencies that will not be addressed by the close of SDD next year. The bridge phase would allow the program time to address those deficiencies and incorporate fixes discovered during initial operational test and evaluation, which is slated to start early next year.

Congress has been waiting for months on the JPO to provide a detailed plan for Block 4. Under the Fiscal Year 2017 National Defense Authorization Act, the report was due in March.

In the FY-18 defense policy bill, which passed the House and Senate this week, lawmakers fence off 75 percent of Block 4 funding until the program provides the report, which likely won't be delivered until after the Pentagon approves the plan. -- Courtney Albon and Lee Hudson

EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, CA -- The F-35 joint program office is considering outfitting the aircraft with an Automatic Ground Collision Avoidance System prior to the start of Block 4 modernization. Auto GCAS had been envisioned as part of the service's Block 4 follow-on modernization effort, but Lt. Col. Tucker Hamilton, commander of the 462st Flight Test Squadron, told Inside Defense the program is considering installing the upgrade prior to the start of Block 4 as part of its...